A New Partner
by shana852963
Summary: After the war, George faces the crippling decision of whether to re-open the joke shop without his brother, or pack it all in. Perhaps the helping hand of a new business partner will help George pick up the pieces.


Ron groggily opened his eyes, slowly sitting up in his bed. He looked around his small room in the Burrow, squinting slightly at the blazing orange walls. He looked across the room at the cot, where Harry was still asleep.

Or at least he was pretending to be. Ron knew for a fact that in two months since the war had ended, Harry had been woken up several times a night with nightmares. He himself had had his fair share of them, but he could only imagine what his best friend was experiencing.

As quietly as he could, Ron slipped out of bed and left the bedroom, heading down to the kitchen. Harry, as well as Hermione, had been staying at the Burrow since the war ended. Both had been hesitant on first, not wanting to impede on the family during such a fragile time, but Mrs. Weasley had insisted.

When he reached the kitchen, Ron smelled burning bacon, and when he entered the room, he spotted a cascade of dark smoke coming from the pan on the stove. Mrs. Weasley was standing on the other side of the room, her back facing the stove, and staring out the window, deep in thought.

"Mum, the stove!" Ron said, jolting his mother out of her thoughts.

"Wha-oh!" Mrs. Weasley gasped, spinning around.

"I've got it," Ron said, pulling his wand out and quickly extinguishing the flames.

"Oh my word, how foolish of me," Mrs. Weasley said, shaking her head. "I-I must've drifted off. I'm so sorry, Ron, dear. Just let me start a new batch and I'll have you your breakfast in a minute."

"Mum, it's alright," Ron said. "You should sit. I'll just have some toast."

Since the war ended, Mrs. Weasley had been trying hard to return her family to their normal lives. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't change the fact that her seven children were now only six.

"Thank you, Ron," Molly said gratefully. "Is Harry still asleep?"

"Yeah," Ron nodded.

"Good, good," Molly said. "Poor dear hasn't had a good night's sleep in months. I would have thought you'd still be sleeping at this hour. It's barely seven."

"Promised George I'd start helping him get the shop ready to reopen," Ron replied. "I'm heading over after I eat."

"Oh!" Molly said. "That's wonderful; he's going to reopen the shop?"

"As of right now," Ron sighed. "Course he changes his mind about twice a week."

True, for the past month, the remaining Weasley twin had be going back and forth between whether to reopen the joke shop or to pack it all in.

"You be sensitive," Molly told him. "George is taking this worst out of all of us. Of course he would…don't think there has been a time those two have been separated before-before-"

And just like that Molly's face crumbled and she began sobbing into her hands.

"Mum, mum, I'm sorry," Ron said quickly, hurrying over and putting an arm around his mother. "I didn't mean-I was just-"

"No, no, you did nothing wrong, Ron," Mrs. Weasley said quickly. "Goodness knows how helpful you've been since this all happened. Sometimes I still just can't wrap my head around it all."

"I know mum, me too," Ron admitted. "Sometimes I still expect to see Fred coming down the stairs, foot out ready to trip me."

This made Molly smile as she wiped her eyes. "You tell George he should come by for dinner tonight. He needs a good meal in him."

"I will," Ron said, sliding a steaming cup of tea and a plate of toast in front of his mother. "Promise."

* * *

"Are these Snackboxes any good still?" Ron called to George, setting down several cases of Nosebleed Nougats.

"They're made to last up to ten years," George replied. "So I suppose so. Feel free to taste one and find out for yourself."

"I'll pass," Ron said. "Have you finished restocking those Muggle card tricks, yet?"

"I'll get to it," George shrugged.

"Okay…have you set up the Fanged Frisbee display?" Ron asked.

"No."

"What about the everlasting fireworks?" Ron frowned.

"Not yet."

"George, I thought the store was supposed to open next week," Ron said, trying to keep his patience. "How are you supposed to do that if you don't set anything up?"

"Guess I just won't reopen then," George said simply.

"So you're back to that then?" Ron said. "Not opening?"

"Well what bloody use does anybody have for a joke shop now?" George scoffed.

"Reckon people need a laugh now more than ever," Ron pointed out. "And there's been people lined up outside the shop for days wondering when you'd finally reopen."

"I'm sure Zonkos will be open soon enough," George said.

"Your shop is loads better!" Ron said. "Besides, what are you going to do if you don't have this shop? Throw on a set of dress robes and work for the Ministry? You'd be miserable!"

"Ministry wouldn't hire me," George said. "Never passed any of my N.E.W.T.S."

"That wasn't my-look, George, I-I know that it's going to be strange at first, running the shop without Fred," Ron said. "But he wouldn't want you to-"

"Mum feed you that speech?"

"No," Ron said. "But can you honestly tell me that Fred would want you to let this shop go? After how hard the two of you worked to create it?"

George turned around, suddenly becoming very immersed in the edge of a Headless Hat.

"You can go if you want," George finally said after a few moments. "You've done more than your share with the inventory."

"I can stay," Ron said quickly. "I've got nothing else to do."

"What about Hermione?" George said. "You two are an item now, aren't you?"

"Well, yes," Ron said. "But I'm sure she's busying herself getting a jump on her reading. Well, actually, she did say she needs to talk to me…but I'm sure it can wait a while longer."

"She said she needed to talk to you?" George asked, raising an eyebrow as he turned back towards his brother.

"Yes," Ron shrugged.

"And she didn't say what about?"

"Said it was important," Ron said. "But she told me it could wait until I got back."

"You," George said, shaking his head. "Are an absolute _git_."

"What?" Ron frowned.

"I know you haven't got too much experience in the romance department-"

"I have experience!" Ron argued.

"-But I'd expect even a first-year to know that when a girl says she want 'to talk', it's never good news," George finished.

"What are you talking about? That's rubbish!" Ron said.

"I see the copy of _Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches_ Fred and I gave you went untouched," George said, rolling his eyes.

"You're barking," Ron said. "You're-You don't think I did something, do you?"

"Not necessarily," George said, giving him a small smirk. "She could've just wised up and realized what a buffoon her boyfriend is."

"She did not!"

"Well perhaps it's a point that will come up during your talk," George said nonchalantly.

"You-That's-No," Ron sputtered. "No, that's absolutely…"

"You're gonna go see her now, aren't you?" George smirked, knowingly.

"I-For something completely unrelated, yes," Ron snapped, heading towards the fireplace.

George shook his head as he watched Ron disappear through the Floo network.

"Too easy," he mumbled.

He in no way believed Hermione was the slightest bit mad at Ron. He had seen them together; the two of them were nauseatingly in love. But he needed a bit of peace and quiet.

He supposed he'd have to go by the Burrow for dinner. He knew his mother had been struggling to move past Fred's death just as much as he had, and he didn't want to make things harder on her.

He stepped over to the boxes of Nosebleed Nougats that Ron had been organizing. It had taken him and Fred over six months to finally perfect these…He couldn't help but smile as he thought back to the countless nights they had argued over whose turn it was to test them out.

Ron's words echoed in his head: _Fred wouldn't want you to give up the shop; it was your dream. _

And he knew Ron was right…the idea of the store closing would've devastated Fred. But the idea of running it without him devastated George.

He let out a deep breath as he got to his feet. He needed to go out and get some air, otherwise he knew full well thoughts of his twin would consume him.

Diagon Ally was finally starting to get its life back. Most of the stores had reopened and were getting ready for the rush of Hogwarts students doing their back-to-school shopping.

George walked down the cobbled streets, looking down at his feet as he did.

_I was never supposed to have to run this store by myself, _George thought to himself. _That was never the plan. Plan was for us to do it together…just like we did everything else. How the bloody hell am I supposed to do this without-_

"George!"

George spun around and saw Angelina Johnson jogging over to him, slightly out of breath.

"Angelina?" George said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Just finished my shift at Quality Quidditch Supplies," she replied. "I saw you walking and have been calling your name for the past five minutes. Didn't you hear me?"

George pointed to the small hole where his right ear used to be. "Only have half my hearing."

"Oh…right," Angelina said, slightly embarrassed. "Forgot. Er, sorry."

"No worries, comes in handy sometimes," George said. "Free pass to ignore anybody I want to. Er, but I wasn't ignoring you…really didn't hear you there. So, um, you-you work at Quality Quidditch Supplies then?"

"Just started," Angelina said. "Needed to make some money, you know? Hopefully won't be there for long. Wood contacted me a few days ago. Puddlemore United is looking for a new Chaser and he put in a good word about me with the captain. I have a try-out at the end of November."

"Wow, that's great," George said, impressed.

"Thanks," Angelina smiled. "So I suppose you're busy getting your shop to reopen, aren't you?"

"Maybe," George admitted.

"Maybe?"

"Been thinking about just selling it," George shrugged. "It's a good location; I'm sure I'd fetch a fair amount of gold for it."

"Why would you sell it?" Angelina frowned. "It's one of the most popular shops in Diagon Ally."

"Don't know if I'm up for running it anymore, that's all," George said nonchalantly.

Angelina looked down at her feet. "Not up for running it _alone_?"

George didn't reply.

"I never got a chance to talk to you at Fred's funeral," she said, clearing her throat. "I was looking for you after the service, but I couldn't find you."

"I left," George said quickly.

"Yes, I figured," Angelina sighed. "I imagine it was quite hard for you."

Again, George didn't reply.

"Can I see it?" Angelina asked suddenly.

"See what?" George frowned.

"The shop," she replied. "I'd like to see it at least one more time, just in case you decide not to reopen it. It was always one of my favorites."

George thought for a moment before shrugging. "Alright. Follow me then."

He led her back to the shop and let her inside, cursing himself for not tidying up a bit more.

"Ron was here earlier," George told her. "He was helping me set some things up…In case I decide to open."

"That was nice of him," Angelina commented, looking around.

"You want some tea or something?" George asked.  
"Depends," Angelina smiled. "Is it the tea that turns my teeth purple for a week?"

George couldn't help but laugh. "Forgot how difficult it is to prank you. Always one step ahead."

"Well after the time during our second year when you gave me a quill that squirted ink in my face, I have to be on alert around you," Angelina replied.

"Oh right, I remember that," George said thoughtfully.

"Reckon this place could be ready to open in just a few days," Angelina continued. "Just needs a bit of cleaning. _If _you decide to reopen, that is."

"Yes, well…" George said, clearing his throat. "It's still a big 'if'."

"What if…" Angelina said slowly. "What if you _did_ have help?"

"We had a staff," George mumbled. "But it's not the same. Fred and I were _partners_. We ran the shop, we lived here. We developed new products and tested them out."

"And what if you had a partner then?" Angelina asked. "Would you consider keeping the store open then?"

"I don't have a partner, though," George frowned.

"I could do it," Angelina said.

"Right," George scoffed.

"I'm serious," Angelina replied. "I could be your partner."

"You work at Quality Quidditch Supplies."

"So? I'll quit," Angelina shrugged. "I told you, it's just a temporary position anyway."

"And what about your Chaser tryout?" George asked.

"It's four months away," Angelina replied. "In the meantime, I could be your partner. Just long enough for you to get back into the swing of things. I'll help you run the shop and test out products. You've said yourself I'm hard to pull anything past. I'd be the perfect test subject. All you'd have to do is hire me."

"You-You _are _serious?" George asked slowly.

Angelina nodded.

"Well…I-I suppose…if you really wanted to…alright," George said. "You can become my temporary partner here."

"Brilliant," Angelina said brightly. "When do I start?"

"Well, um, there's some Fanged Frisbees that need to be set up now," George said, still processing what just happened.

"I'm on it," Angelina said at once. "Partner."

….


End file.
